Pros and Cons of Earth Hour

How valuable are symbolic events like Earth Hour? Are we better off ignoring the media hype and getting on with changing our energy consumption?

The discussions I followed this weekend indicated that symbolic events have a place, but the optics of spending a piddly hour each year on the subject is unfortunate.

I pokedsome fun atthe possible consequences if people took the “turn out your lights” message too literally. But when 8 p.m. came Saturday night, we were lighting up the candles and spending some quiet time reading in the living room.

Reminders are good, but long-term changes to habits are what it’s all about.

As we all know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Let’s hope that by giving up one hour out of our conveniently electrified life we would take a first step toward a responsible and eco-friendly living.